Though switch hit was first played by South African batsman Jonty Rhodes against Australian Darren Lehmann in 2002, the shot found its current glory only after English batsman Kevin Pietersen smacked Muttiah Muralitharan out of the park in 2006 in a test match against Sri Lanka. Now, the switch hit is played by many cricketers, but every time it’s played, the South Africa-born English cricketer Pietersen comes alive switching his stance and swinging the willow to slay the delivery.
Cricketers, from time to time, have tried to improvise shots and tried to invent new ones. Dil scoop, for one, which has become synonymous with its inventor, swashbuckling Sri Lankan batter, Tillakaratne Dilshan.
Compatriot Chamara Silva perhaps had similar designs in his mind when he attempted a bizarre shot in a club match at P Sara Oval in Colombo. But, contrary to his expectation of being able to send the ball flying over the boundary rope, the batsman’s effort ended up in a major embarrassment.
The 37-year-old shuffled behind the stumps just before the bowler delivered the ball, and swung his bat at attempt a wild hit, forgetting the ball could crash into the stumps before his bat makes contact with it. And that’s exactly what happened.
As expected, the Chamara’s latest invention made him a laughing stock on the social media.
On The Other Hand A Tape Ball Batsmen From Pakistan Doing It Perfectly @mediagag @Rehan_ulhaq @CricCrazyNIKS @taimoorze @Fancricket12 @ pic.twitter.com/55OlLa79H6 — Hamza Sheikh (@hamza007_) November 20, 2017
An almost similar incident happened during a match between Australia and Pakistan when Brad Haddin walked behind the stumps in a half-hearted attempt to hit a Shoaib Akhtar delivery and the ball hit the stumps. Only on this occasion, Haddin survived as the previous delivery was a no-ball.
Chamara was banned for two years for misconduct during a domestic first-class match in September. He was later allowed to play domestic cricket.
Playing for Sri Lanka, he has played 11 Tests, 75 ODIs and 16 Twenty20 Internationals.
